Butterflies are captivating to young children. Even as an adult, the intrigue persists. A butterfly is fascinating to watch, especially when it is flitting through the air.
If you are also smitten by this colorful insect, here are the 30 prettiest butterflies in the world that you must see.
1. Monarch Butterfly
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This orange and black butterfly is native to North, South, and Central America but is also found in New Zealand, Australia, and surrounding areas. It has big, beautiful wings, comes in other variations like the striking white morph, and is famous for its two-way migration.
2. Dead Leaf Butterfly
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This fascinating butterfly has an amazing camouflaging advantage, which is its characteristic look. Dead leaf butterflies are found from India to Japan, and when the wings are closed, they resemble a dead leaf. However, the inner side of the wings has bands of black, orange, and blue.
3. Peacock Butterfly
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The peacock butterfly has vibrant colors and has 4 eye-like spots. 2 bright blue spots on the lower wings and 2 multicolored, iridescent spots on the upper wings. It is found in parts of Asia and Europe. It has the name “Peacock Butterfly” because the spots resemble those found on peacock feathers.
4. Emerald Swallowtail
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This beautiful butterfly has a velvety dark green to black color and the characteristic emerald band. A native of Southeast Asia, the emerald swallowtail is one of the most beautiful butterflies in the world.
5. Ulysses Butterfly
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The Ulysses butterfly has a bright, metallic blue color with an underside of brown or black. It strongly resembles another famous and beautiful butterfly, the Blue Morpho. It is found in Australia, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.
6. Zebra Longwing Butterfly
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Found in Central and South America, the Zebra Longwing butterfly has the commonly-known zebra stripes, but the bottom row on the hindwing has small white dots instead of a continuous strip.
7. Glasswing Butterfly
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The butterfly has delicate-looking transparent wings that are great for camouflaging. The butterfly is also known as Greta Oto, or the transparent butterfly, and is native to Central America.
8. Glory of Bhutan
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The Bhutan Glory butterfly, found in Bhutan, India, and other parts of southwest Asia, has a peculiar shape and color. On the back of the lower wings, it has a bright red spot that keeps predators away and three bizarre tails. This species of butterfly is well-protected in India.
9. Blue Morpho
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It is a beautiful butterfly with gorgeous blue wings bordered with black. The edges also have white spots. While the beautiful blue color attracts the opposite sex, it keeps away predators. It is one of the largest butterflies in the world and is found in Central and South America.
10. Peacock Pansy
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These butterflies also get the name “Peacock” due to the eye-like spots on their wings. The butterflies have an orange-yellow color with brown edges and are native to South Asia and Cambodia.
11. Blue Clipper Butterfly
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Found in the forest of South and Southeast Asia, the blue clipper butterfly is one of the fastest-flying butterflies. They get the name because the white wing patches look like sails on a clipper ship. There are other morphs of the butterfly as well, with a base color of yellow or green instead of blue.
12. Eighty-Eight Butterfly
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If you haven’t guessed already, the butterfly has a gorgeous black and white stripe pattern with “88” in the middle, while the upper side has a bluish-green band. The species is found in the tropical forests of South and Central America.
13. Forest Giant Owl Butterfly
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The butterfly has giant owl-like eyes on its underside wings. The spots look like the eyes of many predators and protect the butterfly from predators like frogs and lizards. The upper side is yellowish-brown and has a purple border. The butterfly is found in the forests of Central and South America.
14. Goliath Birdwing Butterfly
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The butterfly has “bird wings,” meaning it has giant wings with a wingspan of 10 to 11 inches, making it the second-largest butterfly in the world. The species also show sexual dimorphism — the females have dark brown wings with yellow marks on their hind wings and males have wings of yellow, green, and black color. The butterfly is found in New Guinea.
15. Adonis Blue
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The Adonis Blue is another butterfly that shows sexual dimorphism. The males of the species have beautiful blue-colored wings with white linings, while the females are dull with a brownish color but have eye-like spots on the edges. The butterfly is found in the dry grasslands of the Palearctic.
16. Question Mark Butterfly
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The butterfly is found in wooded areas as well as parks in North America. It gets its name because the silver lining on the edges forms the shape of a question mark. The butterfly has a beautiful orange-red color with black spots.
17. Apollo Butterfly
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Named after the Greek God Apollo, the butterfly has beautiful grayish-white wings with black and red eye spots. Found in Central Asia and Continental Europe, the butterfly almost looks like a moth at first glance.
18. Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing
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The largest butterfly, Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, is a 1-foot (12-inch) long butterfly. Found in Papua New Guinea and Oro Province, the butterfly is highly endangered due to the destruction of its habitat and illegal selling on the black market.
Females are larger and have brown wings with white patches, while males have more vivid colors like green, yellow, and blue encircled in black lines.
19. Amber Phantom Butterfly
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Another butterfly with transparent wings, the Amber Phantom has angelic wings. The wings look like beautiful multicolored stained glass and have a few eye spots at the back. The butterfly is found in lowland forests in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, and Venezuela.
20. Zebra Swallowtail
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The Zebra Swallowtail is the state butterfly of Tennessee and is a white butterfly with black stripes. The butterfly is found in the eastern part of the United States and southeastern Canada. The butterfly has a spring and summer form. The summer form has more prominent and larger black lines than the spring form.
21. Sunset Moth
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Very similar to swallowtail butterflies, the Sunset Moth has a beautiful velvety black color with green markings and three tails on each wing. It is endemic to Madagascar and can grow as long as 11 inches.
22. Sylphina Angel
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Another transparent butterfly, the Sylphina Angel, has black linings enclosing its transparent portion. The beautiful butterfly is found in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador and has a tail with pink, green, and blue hues.
23. The Large Marble Butterfly
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It is a beautiful white butterfly that was once thought to be extinct but was rediscovered. It is found in North America, and the green marbling is on the underside of the hindwing.
24. Crimson Rose
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The Crimson Rose is a beautiful black butterfly with white markings on the wings and red dots on the tail. It also has a red body and is found in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India, and Myanmar.
25. Mourning Cloak
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Found in North America, the butterfly has dark purple wings with a thick white outline. Just above the white band, it has sapphire oval dots that stand out distinctly.
26. Paradise Birdwing
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The paradise butterfly is another large butterfly that exhibits sexual dimorphism. The females are black with white and taupe patterning, while the males are bright yellow with black banding.
27. Chestnut Tiger
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They have blueish-white wings that are rimmed with brown and black. At first glance, the chestnut tiger may look like a different-colored Monarch butterfly, but it is a different species. It is found in the Malayan region and along the Himalayan mountains.
28. Duke of Burgundy
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Found in the Palearctic region, the butterfly has a black or dark brown base and an orange-brown check pattern.
29. Striped Blue Crow
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The forests of India and Southeast Asia are home to the Striped Blue Crow butterfly. It has a brown base and royal blue patches at the edges. Cream-colored spikes that resemble rays originate from the center of the females.
30. Black Swallowtail
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It is a metallic beauty with a black base and iridescent purple and green scales. It is mesmerizing to look at, especially the scalloped edges of the tail.
Finally, if you want to make a permanent specimen of your butterfly, then I recommend custom pins. You can add your favorite butterfly species on the pin, which is not only a good collection, but also not easy to damage and can be preserved permanently.Customize your own pins at pins.us.